Posts in RPython

QuickNote: Jinja Templating for rPY

With a working RPython implementation of The Sieve demo (start/DRAFT), it’s time to find the patterns to automate: generating RPython code from Castle-Code.

Like in QuickNote: Jinja Events (templating), part of the CC2Cpy: CCastle to C compiler in Python backend, we focus on the essential Jinja templates.

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QuickNote: The Sieve in RPython

Before implementing an RPython backend, a short study of RPython is made, including implementing The Sieve demo (start/DRAFT) in RPython. It’s like a hand-compiled RPython variant, following the approach as described in the Jinja rendering study), for the CC2CPy backend.

Writing RPython isn’t too complicated for someone with a C-background. But making the code pass the RPython compiler can be tricky, however. Both, as just added statements can interfere with existing code – when that isn’t “static enough”, new code can trigger compile errors in old, tested code! And, because the RPython compiler isn’t that great in giving helpful info.
It feels like old-style debugging: try-and-error, remove-and-enable-lines, one-at-a-time until one understands and it becomes easy to fix…

This blog is both to share some RPython experience and to study the patterns that are needed to generate RPython code to implement the Castle-Compiler.

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rPY: Use (r)Python as backend

When designing a Castle-Compiler with a C-backend, we found some nasty details unrelated to CCastle but to the C-language. For example, C has no namespaces (see No Name Collisions); we can simulate them, but that is extra work. Likewise, we need to generate many (data)classes that are very similar. Again, it is possible, but it takes a lot of work: to write the code that generates those almost codes.
Therefore, I started to think about how we can automate that. Or: who has done it before, and what can we borrow?

PyPy –an alternative Python implementation– has developed a concept for that! They have built a translator to convert (r)Python into C and compile that into native machine code.
Can we re-use that? And can it help to realize the “first (bootstrap) compiler” faster?

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